Benevolent Sexism at an Evangelical University

A group of professors at Biola University recently released a report called “Women Faculty at an Evangelical University: The Paradox of Religiously Driven Gender Inequalities and High Job Satisfaction.” The report shows that women faculty at an evangelical college face “benevolent sexism,” resulting in fewer opportunities for advancement than their male colleagues, yet overall, they report higher job satisfaction than women at a secular research university in the same region. The authors conclude this “paradox” results from the evangelical institution’s relational emphasis, which provides women with high job satisfaction, even though their career advancement is limited by a variety of factors.

In an interview with Christianity Today, the researchers reported that “Many women faculty … reported feeling undermined at work by implicit assumptions that they should be home with their children, or that the qualities that are valued in academia—intelligence, assertiveness, and confidence—are not traits appropriate for Christian women.”